H4 -> H1, 221(g) while H1 stamping, going for H4 Stamping now, any issues?

A

another_fella

Registered Users (C)
Here is a situation that I need your input on:

My wife has been in US since Jan 2005 on H4, before that she worked in India in IT. After coming to US, her H4 extension of stay along with my H1 has been extended till end of April 2007, this got approved in May 2006. This h4 extension has not been stamped on the passport.

In June 2006 a consulting shop applied H1 for her which got approved in Nov 2006. Within a week of the approval (through online status we came to know the status) she has to travel to India for family emergency. Her employer suggested that she can travel, and they would send the H1 documents to her, which she in turn can get stamped. Since the approval came almost around the same that she has to travel, she has not started working for the company yet, and has not even applied for SSN.

During her H1 Visa interview in Chennai, they issued a 221(g) asking the following the additional documents from the employer:
1. A notarized list of all the petitioner's employees of the job site listed. The list should show all employees names, their job descriptions, individual salaries, and immigration status.
2. State employement wage reports showing all wages paid to each employee in the state for the past two quarters.

Every time we talk to her company folks they would say these documents will be sent in a week, and it has been couple of months and we are still waiting. After repeated phone calls and emails we lost hope that they would be sending these documents anytime.

Now we are planning to go for H4 stamping, so she can get here. When we called up the VFS in Chennai explaining the situation, they said it is the Visa Issuing Officer who decides on this.

If anyone has been in similar situation, or know of risks in this process, or know about precautions that need to be considered in this process please do share them.

Thanks in advance!
 
I think she can alway get her H4 visa. It happened to one of my friend's wife and she came back on h4. I can find out the details.
 
aboppana,

Thanks for your response. If you can find out the specific details as to how your friend proceeded about getting H4, that will be of great help to me.

We are thinking to go with all the H4 related documents, and also carry her H1 related documents, in case if the VO needs them before processing the H4 application.

Thanks again!


aboppana said:
I think she can alway get her H4 visa. It happened to one of my friend's wife and she came back on h4. I can find out the details.
Click to expand...
 
another_fella,
I did check with my friend and his situation was little different. His wife had H1 query at consulate before they got married, and it was not answered. She attended H4 after they got married, the VO made her write & sign a letter stating she will not work for the employer who processed her H1 that was issued a 221g.

your wife can always attend the H4, but be prepared with a strong and convincing reason why she do not want to proceede with her H1. They will definitely raise this question. She can always put the blame on the employer, as it was the reason. How long it's been since your wife visited consulate? It the gap between the visits to consulate is more than couple months, she can tell she waited for couple months and the employer is not responding, so she wanted to use H4.
 
Thank you

Even though your friend's situation was little different, the information you provided below is very helpful. Now we know what to expect when going for H4.

It has been 6 weeks, and we are still waiting on the 221(g) related documents that have been requested from the employer. I had asked my wife to keep track of all the discussion with the employer through email confirmation's, so in case if we have to go for H4 we can use it to prove to the VO that we have been trying to get the documents and there is no positive response yet.

Thanks again!


aboppana said:
another_fella,
I did check with my friend and his situation was little different. His wife had H1 query at consulate before they got married, and it was not answered. She attended H4 after they got married, the VO made her write & sign a letter stating she will not work for the employer who processed her H1 that was issued a 221g.

your wife can always attend the H4, but be prepared with a strong and convincing reason why she do not want to proceede with her H1. They will definitely raise this question. She can always put the blame on the employer, as it was the reason. How long it's been since your wife visited consulate? It the gap between the visits to consulate is more than couple months, she can tell she waited for couple months and the employer is not responding, so she wanted to use H4.
Click to expand...
 
Since the OP's wife got a 221(g) due to missing documentation from the employer, I don't see how that should affect her H-4 application. The only issue I see is if the consul suspects the OP's wife of requesting an H-4 just to get into the US, so that she can work for the H-1B employer.
 
Triple Citizen said:
requesting an H-4 just to get into the US, so that she can work for the H-1B employer.
Click to expand...


Yes, I kinda got that based on the message from aboppana. We are prepared to give in writing to the VO saying she won't work for them in case if they ask for it.

Thanks for your analysis and the response!


aboppana said:
the VO made her write & sign a letter stating she will not work for the employer who processed her H1 that was issued a 221g.
Click to expand...
 
H4 Issued with no issues

I just wanted to update you all that the H4 was issued with just one question: Since this is the 2nd time that we went for the H4 visa stamping, they asked whether it is the same employer?

One thing that needs to be noted is: it took 6 working days to get the Passport back. Whereas most of the times, you get it back within the very next 2-days through courier.

Thank you aboppana and Triple Citizen for your input.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top